Isaiah 37 is a testament to the power of prayer, faith, and total reliance on God in times of crisis…
Read Isaiah Chapter 37 (ESV)
Despite the humanly insurmountable challenge, Hezekiah’s heartfelt prayer and absolute faith in God result in a miraculous divine intervention, proving that God is sovereign and can deliver us from any adversity.
After receiving a threatening letter from King Sennacherib of Assyria, King Hezekiah tears his clothes, puts on sackcloth, and goes to the Temple of the Lord.
He sends messengers to Prophet Isaiah, expressing his despair and asking for divine intervention.
The prophet Isaiah sends back a reassuring message to Hezekiah, saying that God will make Sennacherib hear a rumor that will draw him back to his land, where he will die by the sword.
Despite God’s promise, King Sennacherib sends a new message, recounting his military victories and the impotence of gods of other nations to save their people.
Receiving the message, Hezekiah goes to the Temple and spreads the letter before God.
He prays fervently, acknowledging God’s power and pleading for deliverance from Assyrian oppression to show all nations that God is the one true God.
In verses 21 to 35 we read about The Power of Prayer…
Hezekiah’s Plea and God’s Deliverance
Hezekiah, a son of the wicked King Ahaz, reigned over the southern kingdom of Judah for twenty-nine years, from c. 715 to 686 BC.
He began his reign at age 25 (2 Kings 18:2).
He was more zealous for the Lord than any of his predecessors (2 Kings 18:5).
Because King Hezekiah put God first in everything he did, God prospered him.
Hezekiah “held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook” (2 Kings 18:6–7).
During his reign, the prophets Isaiah and Micah ministered in Judah.
Through Isaiah, God sends a message to Hezekiah, stating that He has heard his prayer.
God gives a prophecy about the downfall of Sennacherib, affirming that Jerusalem will be spared.
Isaiah 37:21-35 (ESV)
Sennacherib’s Fall
21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22 this is the word that the LORD has spoken concerning him:
“‘She despises you, she scorns you—
the virgin daughter of Zion;
she wags her head behind you—
the daughter of Jerusalem.
23 “‘Whom have you mocked and reviled?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes to the heights?
Against the Holy One of Israel!
24 By your servants you have mocked the Lord,
and you have said, With my many chariots
I have gone up the heights of the mountains,
to the far recesses of Lebanon,
to cut down its tallest cedars,
its choicest cypresses,
to come to its remotest height,
its most fruitful forest.
25 I dug wells
and drank waters,
to dry up with the sole of my foot
all the streams of Egypt.
26 “‘Have you not heard
that I determined it long ago?
I planned from days of old
what now I bring to pass,
that you should make fortified cities
crash into heaps of ruins,
27 while their inhabitants, shorn of strength,
are dismayed and confounded,
and have become like plants of the field
and like tender grass,
like grass on the housetops,
blighted before it is grown.
28 “‘I know your sitting down
and your going out and coming in,
and you’re raging against me.
29 Because you have raged against me
and your complacency has come to my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth,
and I will turn you back on the way
by which you came.’
30 “And this shall be the sign for you: this year you shall eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs from that.
Then in the third year sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.
31 And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward.
32 For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
33 “Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria:
He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it.
34 By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the LORD.
35 For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”
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Through Isaiah, God sends a message to Hezekiah, stating that He has heard his prayer. God gives a prophecy about the downfall of Sennacherib, affirming that Jerusalem will be spared.
As God had promised, the Angel of the Lord slays 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in the night.
Sennacherib retreats to Nineveh, where he is eventually assassinated by his sons.
Isaiah 37 is a remarkable chapter in the Bible where we witness the raw desperation of King Hezekiah in the face of an impending Assyrian invasion, his passionate plea to God, and the Almighty’s profound response to his servant’s prayer.
In this chapter, we see a wonderful portrayal of the power of prayer, the assurance of God’s protection, and the downfall of the proud.
Similar to what we see happening in America today, King Hezekiah reigned in Israel during a time when the people had forgotten about God.
Unlike his predecessors, Hezekiah tried to restore the worship of God.
During these reforms, the expanding Assyrian Empire threatened his kingdom.
Even though Hezekiah was miraculously healed by God and his life was extended (see 2 Kings 21-22, nevertheless Isaiah chapter 39 records his pride and Isaiah’s announcement of judgment.
Even though God gave Hezekiah victory over snapper, and then Hezekiah’s selfish pride was his downfall.
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Wednesday, Aug 21
cFaith
Spirit Filled Believer
by Dick Mills
TURNING THE DEVIL’S ARROWS AGAINST HIM
“He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there. By the way that he came, by the same way shall he return…”
— Isaiah 37:33-34
This verse can be used to keep your thought life undisturbed and in complete tranquility, serenity, and composure.
Satan uses thoughts like flaming arrows to lodge in our minds and arouse us to anxiety, fear, insecurity, anger, or lust.
The Greek word for devil (diabolos) is composed of two words: dia (dee-ah’), “through,” and ballo (bal’-lo), “to throw.”
Thus, it is Satan’s strategy to attempt to “throw” (shoot) arrows “through” (at) the believer to ignite trouble within him (Eph. 6:16).
In this passage, the Lord is speaking through the prophet Isaiah, telling the people of Israel that their enemy is coming against them but that he will not be able so much as to shoot an arrow into their city.
As Christians, we can have the same protection.
Our minds can be so fortified with the Word of God, our hearts so filled with His Spirit, our walk of faith so undergirded with His divine presence and support, that the enemy will have to flee the same way he came against us.
Lately, I have been verbalizing a confession of faith to contradict negative mental suggestions. I say:
“That is not my thought; I don’t think that way. Lord, it’s not Your thought either, because it does not agree with Your written Word.”
Then I quote a positive scripture in opposition to that negative thought.
Peace descends, and I can get on with serving the Lord.
You can do the same. Resist the devil with the Word!
[Source: The Spirit-Filled Believer’s Daily Devotional by Dick Mills]
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